English soccer returns to Sky but in highly unusual, revenue-less deal

English Premier League soccer will return to New Zealand next season but in a highly unusual commercial deal.

When the next season kicks off, Sky TV will launch two new channels: beIN Sports 1, which will show EPL games, and beIN Sports 2, which will feature Uefa Champions League, Uefa Europa matches, plus action from England's Championship League matches, Spain's La Liga and France’s Ligue 1. Together, they will cost $11.96 a month on top of an existing Sky subscription. All games will be in HD.

There will also be an online offering open to New Zealanders, beIN Connect, run by Al Jazeera-owned beIN Sports, which is expected to cost about $20 a month. The Arabian broadcaster's online platform is well-regarded. EPL fans can expect all the same features as were offered by Lightbox Sports' PremierLeaguePass before it lost rights. Like PremierLeaguePass, beIN can be watched on a tablet or PC, or streamed to a regular TV.

Neither of the two new Sky TV channels will be available via Sky's online, no-contract Fanpass service, due to beIN's online exclusivity, but (stay with me) Sky customers who've bought the beIN broadcast channels will have access to the online platform also.

Zero revenue. Not a sausage
Sky TV communications director Kirsty Way says Sky TV will receive no revenue from the two new broadcast channels – not even to cover its costs. Every cent of revenue from that $11.96 a month will go to beIN. Ms Way says Sky is making its platform available to beIN for free.

An incredulous NBR made her repeat it three times. It is true. No money will come in the door [UPDATE: This arrangement was further confirmed in Sky and Vodafone's merger application to the Commerce Commission].

Neither will Sky get any cut of the revenue from beIN Connect, which will be directly operated by beIN Sport. Sky is merely publicising that the option exists.

"It's a highly unusual deal," Ms Way says.

Why is Sky being so generous?

Simply to avoid yet another backlash from sports fans, it seems.

"The emotion shown by [EPL] fans has been huge," Ms Way says.

Sky simply could not afford the sum being asked by beIN for online and broadcast rights, which NBR understands from a person close to the deal was $4.3 million per season, or $12.9 million over the course of the three-year deal. Or, it could afford it but did not want to be seen paying over-the-odds for one code when other rights holders were watching.

NBR suspects some fans will grouse regardless, given the two new Sky channels won't be on Fanpass. They shouldn't moan. We've gone from the prospect of possibly no Premier League football being shown in New Zealand for the 2016/17 season (kicking off in August) to a solid option for people who like traditional broadcast TV and a full-featured option for those who prefer their football via broadband. Both cost less than PremierLeaguePass, whose season pass worked out to around $20 a month.

Bye, bye, Lightbox Sport
On Friday, Sky announced it had won back rights to US PGA and LPGA golf. US golf had been the last vestige of content left on Lightbox Sport, the 50:50 joint venture formed between Spark-owned Lightbox and Coliseum Sports Media, in turn 50%-owned by NBR Rich Lister Peter Cooper.

Sky has already won back European golf while Lightbox Sport was lost to beIN (the Al Jazeera subsidiary has been hoovering up football rights worldwide in a well-funded effort ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar; the Qatar government owns Al Jazeera).

Lightbox Sport’s third offering, games from the French Top 14 competition, is AWOL.

Coliseum is now pushing its own product, Rugby Pass, which is being sold to people in 23 Asian countries.

Sky, meanwhile, is pursuing merger talks with Vodafone.